Just The Way I Am
by GirlInTheMirror121
Summary: The Glee Project. Hannah has a totally obvious crush on Damian, and everyone knows it but him. But when it looks as if he just might like her back, will she finally muster up the courage to tell him? Damian/Hannah. Please review.


**Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with The Glee Project or its competitors.**

**Note: Bear with me, readers, but I had to get it out of my system. I promise this one will be quick and over with before you know it. Thanks, and please review.**

"Come on," Damian laughed. "Why are you afraid to look into my eyes?"

Hannah blushed. "They're just…so pretty," she admitted.

"So are yours," he whispered shyly. She blushed harder, her freckles catching fire. Her shocking red hair only made her face appear even redder, and Damian giggled. "You look like a sunburnt lobster."

"Oh, you," she waved him off. "Come on, we gotta get this thing down. Listen to Lindsay and Sam; they're great," she cocked her head in their direction.

"So what if they're good?" Damian shrugged. "We're putting a different spin on this."

"We are?" She questioned.

"Just follow my lead," he winked mysteriously. "Oh, and don't forget to smile!"

She grinned. "How's this?"

"Very pretty," he nodded. "Just like that, yes." They practiced their piece of the song _Need You Now_ until it was time to go to bed. "Goodnight, Hannah," Damian waved, flashing her his brilliant smile.

"Goodnight," she waved back, looking down shyly. Giggling, she followed Marissa and Lindsay out the door and to the Girl's Dorm.

"Oh, my God," Lindsay gasped as soon as they were alone. "You totally like him!"

"Nah," Hannah flopped down on her bed. "Okay, maybe a little…I mean, he's very sweet, and _very_ cute…"

"It's okay if you like him, you know," Marissa said softly. "From what I could see, it seemed as if he might feel the same."

Hannah sat up, staring at the fellow redhead. "Shut. Up. No!"

"It's true," Lindsay said casually, brushing out her dark hair. "I may or may not have heard him and Cam talking about you, and it was definitely positive."

"Oh my gosh," Hannah hugged her knees to her chest. "But why would he go for a girl like, well, me? Why not the two of you?"

"Han, you've got to get over this self-confidence thing," Marissa sat on the bed next to her. "I know how it feels, I went through it myself. But if Damian likes you, he'll like you for who you are. You're funny, you have a big heart, you're nice…what's not to like, really? And maybe Damian isn't the type who goes for looks anyway, so you'd be his type." She rubbed the girl's shoulder comfortingly. "Why don't you tell him?"

"He'd laugh at me," Hannah shrugged. "And I've like, never had a guy feel that way about me before, so I guess I'm kind of…scared."

"Maybe do a confessional," Lindsay pointed towards the confessionals booth with her hairbrush. "That way, he'll see it later, and you don't have to say it to his face. And who knows? Maybe he'll appreciate or admire how bold you were about it."

"You know what? That's not a bad idea, for once," Hannah stood up and headed towards the door. "Someone give me a push." Marissa laughed and gently shoved the plus-sized girl towards the infamous room. Hannah slipped inside the booth and turned on the camera, settling back on the stool. "It's kind of…impossible…not to have feelings for Damian," she admitted softly. "I really like him, but I'm afraid to tell him, and I don't want to ruin our friendship." She sighed and cast her eyes downwards. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see," she said before turning off the camera and heading back to the room, where Lindsay was on the edge of her bed waiting.

"So? Did you do it?" She bounced slightly.

"Do what?" Cameron walked in at that moment, already in his pajamas.

"Hannah just made a confessional saying that-" Lindsay started to say before Marissa dove over and clapped a hand over the gossip's mouth.

"Saying that she thinks she and Damian are gonna kick ass tomorrow," Marissa covered flawlessly. "I mean, that's not to say that you and I aren't going to do well…"

Lindsay protested against Marissa's hand, but managed to get away. "I know this huge secret, but I can't tell you!"

"Oh, really?" Cameron raised a brow. "Does it have to do with me?"

"Nope," Lindsay squirmed. "In fact, your name didn't even come up in our conversation, not even once. Okay, once, but it was in passing."

Hannah face-palmed, wishing the dark-haired girl would just shut up. "Hannah, what's up, my soul sister?" Cameron walked over and put an arm around her.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" She nodded towards the confessional room. "Soul sister-to-soul brother?"

"Yeah, sure," he looked concerned. "Be right back, ladies." He quickly followed the redhead into the small room and folded his arms across his chest. "Is everything okay?"

"You're, um, you and Damian are close, right?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah, he's like, my long-lost Irish brother," Cameron smiled. "Why?"

Hannah bit her lip. "I have a crush on him."

Cameron paused, then broke into a wide grin. "I knew it!"

"What?" She furrowed her brows. "How?"

"You aren't exactly subtle," Cameron smirked.

She smacked his arm playfully. "So…um…do you know if he…um…likes anyone?"

"I _don't_ know, actually," he confessed. "If he does, he's sneaky about it. I guess it's just never really come up. Usually, it's just me trying to get him to say somewhat sexual phrases in an American accent."

"…I did _not_ just hear that," she shook her head. "Oh, what's this?" She picked up a tape that had Damian's name on the label, dated that day. "I wonder…"

"Don't even," Cameron warned her. "That could get us kicked off the show."  
>"You're right," she pouted. "Think you could maybe…"<p>

"Sure," he smiled, reading her mind. "But I think you should tell him yourself."

"That's what they all say," she mumbled. "Thank you, though," she reached up and hugged him, wondering just how she could confess.

_The next day_

"Remember," Damian leaned over and whispered, his breath tickling her ear. "Just follow my lead, and you'll be okay. We're so gonna win this thing."

She blushed at the close contact. "Okay," she murmured. She grinned madly when she saw that Darren Criss was once again the guest mentor, but went into a more serious mode when it came time to perform for him and Robert Ulrich. "And I wonder if I ever cross your mind," she started to sing along with Damian, standing back-to-back with him. Her heart jumped when she felt his hand slide into hers. "For me, it happens all the time." Recalling his advice, she smiled as he twirled her around, his blue-green eyes locking into her mint-green ones. Even after Cameron and Marissa had finished off the song, she could still feel the heat of his hand in hers, a slight tingling in her stomach as she caught his eye from across the room. She beamed with pride and joy as Darren praised her and Damian's positive spin on the song, but her face fell as Marissa was crowned the winner of the assignment. Darren told her that she could stick with Cameron, or choose her own duet partner. It came as no surprise to Hannah that Marissa chose Samuel as her partner, as Marissa had confessed the other day that she had feelings for the dreadlocked boy. Her stomach swooped when Darren began to assign the other pairings.

"Let's see," he glanced at his clipboard. _Please, put me with Damian,_ she sent brainwaves to the curly-haired hottie. "Well, huh. I see a lot of 'diva' in both Alex and Lindsay, and I think that works well off each other. It would be sort of a Kurt-and-Rachel dynamic. Yes, I think we'll put the two of you together." _Oh, please_, she closed her eyes and sent vibes to the _A Very Potter Musical_ star. _There's a one-in-three chance now…please…not Matheus…put him with Cameron…come on, Darren…_ "That leaves two pairings," Darren was going on, and she crossed her fingers. "I was going to put Damian with Matheus," he said, "but after seeing how awesome Damian and Hannah are together, hmm…I think I'll put them together instead." Hannah let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and Damian broke into a smile that went ear-to-ear. "That means Cameron, you're with Matheus," Darren finished. "Now, for the songs. Alex and Lindsay, we're going with the diva classic 'Nowadays' from _Chicago_. Cameron and Matheus, let's go old-school and do 'The Lady is a Tramp'. Hannah and Damian, you seem to have…chemistry. Therefore, I'm going with one of my personal favorites, 'Baby It's Cold Outside'." Hannah turned crimson; what were the odds that she and Damian had to do a _love_ song together? Glancing quickly over at the dark-haired boy, who was red as a tomato, her stomach fluttered; was he feeling the same way?

_In the recording studio_

"Well, if this isn't an interesting pairing," Nikki Anders commented. "I'm kind of excited to hear this now. Come on, get to it, now." Hannah stumbled over the words that she knew so well, the thought of having to act this out with Damian tomorrow scaring and exciting her. "Hannah, sweetie, what's up with you?" Nikki asked.

"I'm just…really nervous," Hannah admitted.

"Is it Damian?" The vocal coach asked softly. Hannah's face betrayed her, and Nikki smiled. "Don't think about it," she advised. "Just close your eyes and pretend you're singing in your bedroom, or that you're singing to your sister or best friend, for fun."

Hannah nodded, and to her surprise, it worked; picturing her sister there with her and singing the song to her as a goofing-off-just-for-fun way helped. After finally nailing it, she left the studio's booth and ran into Damian in the lounge, waiting his turn to record his half of the duet.

"How'd it go?" He asked, looking up at her with his puppy-dog eyes.

"Good, I think," she looked down shyly.

"I'm sure you did great," he smiled. "Well, it's my turn now, so…"

"Go knock Nikki dead," Hannah said quietly as he bounced on his toes, heading into the studio. "And think of me," she whispered to herself after he'd gone.

_Video-shoot: Damian and Hannah_

"Hannah," Damian breathed as he saw her when she arrived on-set out of hair and makeup. "You look…wow," he stood up. "You look so pretty."

"Thanks," she blushed. "You look really nice, too."

"So," the director asked them as he approached. "Are you two doing this as a platonic thing, or a romantic thing?"

"Platonic," Hannah said, as Damian was saying "romantic". Hannah froze. "I mean, romantic," she covered, as Damian changed his answer to "platonic."

The director gave them a strange look. "Well, then. Just roll with it, I guess." He stepped off-set and rolled the playback, giving them the cue to go.

"I really can't stay," Hannah looked over her shoulder at him.

"Baby, it's cold outside," he waggled his eyebrows characteristically.

"I've got to go away," she began to walk towards the set's door.

"But baby, it's cold outside," he moved closer towards her.

"This evening has been so very nice," she smiled at him, moving around the couch, smoothing out her skirt as she went along.

"I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice," he reached for her hand, but she pulled it away before he could touch it. She caught a hint of the sparkle in his eye as he followed her around the set, begging her to stay and enjoy the evening with her. She'd always joked with her sister about how much the undertones of the song spoke about date-rape, but now she saw it with a different light; it was a confused love song. She settled on the set's couch as he sat next to her. "Oh, but it's cold outside," he moved closer to her, cupping her chin in his hand, staring deep into her eyes, very near to kissing her. She pulled away before he could, unsure if she was 'acting' anymore or if she was just very nervous to kiss her crush.

"Cut, cut," the director yelled. "Hannah, what's going on? Was this part of the act, or..? Come on, we need a kiss out of this one." He sighed. "Look, why don't you two take a five-minute break and talk about how you're going to end this one."

"Let's go," Damian took her forearm and brought her over to the side. "Hannah," he cleared his throat. "Hannah, what's wrong? Why didn't you want me to kiss you?" His face fell, clearly upset that she hadn't let him.

"Wait; you _wanted_ to kiss me?" She squeaked, not sure if she was reading this right.

"Yes," he said exasperatedly. "I thought you knew!"

"Knew what?" She looked confused, her heart racing.

"That I like you!" He blurted, his accent nearly slurring his words.

"You like me?" She gasped. "Oh my God…" She bit her lip, hugging herself and twisting back and forth. "I like you, too," she admitted shyly.

"Then why didn't you let me kiss you?" He stroked her cheek.

"I didn't know if _you_ liked _me,_" she shivered at his light touch.

"Well, I do," he said confidently. "You're beautiful," he stepped a little closer. "And you're funny, and you have a heart made of pure gold. Also, you're quite talented, even if you aren't the strongest singer or dancer amongst us. You're so down-to-earth, too. Basically," he stroked her cheek again. "You're just what I'm looking for."

"I never thought a guy like you could ever have feelings for me," she confessed. "Guys usually pass me over because, well, I'm big," she said honestly.

"I don't mind," he leaned his forehead against hers. "So…will you let me kiss you now?"

"Not now," she said softly. He gave her a strange look. "On-camera," she clarified.

"Perfect," he took her hand and brought her back to set.

"Did you two work everything out?" Nikki winked at them, knowing that Hannah liked Damian, and from what she gathered from Damian's recording session, he liked her back.

"Yep," Damian nodded. "Where do you want us to pick up?"

"Do it from the top," she smiled kindly at them. They did, and to everyone's surprise, it was ten times better than the first take, the perfect amount of give-and-take, of being flirty and being shy, caught between wanting to say and wanting to leave. Hannah's heart felt like it was going to leap out of her chest as Damian sat next to her on the couch, cupping her chin again and leaning in for the kiss. She closed her eyes and let his soft lips touch hers, her stomach doing cartwheels and her heart fluttering. After the director called 'cut', they broke apart, smiling at each other and walking back to the green room.

"I'm guessing it went well," Lindsay teased.

"Is that…dude, is that lip-gloss?" Cameron peered curiously.

"Maybe," Damian shrugged. "I suppose it is, yes."

"You kissed!" Lindsay shrieked, leaping up to hug Hannah. "Oh, I'm so happy!"

"Oh, ours isn't special now," Marissa pouted.

"It was directed," Damian assured her. "Wait, _what_?"

"Um," she blushed. "Nothing?"

"Marissa kissed me out of like, _nowhere_," Samuel said in awe. "It was _awesome!_"

"Well, that's great!" Damian told him.

"Were you _really_ oblivious that you two liked each other?" Alex rolled his eyes.

"Did everyone know but me?" Damian demanded.

"Yes," they said in unison.

"Oh," he blushed. "Sorry, Hannah."

"No need to apologize," she squeezed his hand. "I'm just happy that I finally found someone who likes me just the way I am."


End file.
